Yarn treatment apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for treating a textile yarn comprises an endless flexible support member mounted for movement around a closed path, means for laying a textile yarn onto a surface of said support member, a treatment vessel to engage with and completely enclose successive yarn-receiving portions of said surface, means for moving said portions stepwise into and out of said treatment vessel, and a yarn take-off apparatus operable to withdraw treated yarn from said portions. The endless flexible support member may be mounted for intermittent stepwise movement or for continuous movement around a closed path.

United States Patent Tindali 51 May2,1972

[22] Filed:

[54] YARN TREATMENT APPARATUS [72] Inventor: John Raymond Tindall;Guiseley, England [73] Assignee: Courtauids Limited, London, EnglandNov. 16, 1970 21 Appl. N63 89,991

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 19, [969 Great Britain..56,628/69 [52] US. Cl. ..68/5 D [5 l] Int. Cl. ..D06c 1/06 [58] Fieldof Search ..68/5 D, 5 E, DlG. 5, 20

[56] References Cited l UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,503,23l 3/1970 Fleissneret al ..68/5 E Pn'mary Examiner-William i. Price Attorney-Davis, Hoxie,Faithful! & Hapgood [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for treating a textile yamcomprises an endless flexible support member mounted for movement arounda closed path, means for laying a textile yarn onto a surface of saidsupport member, a treatment vessel to engage with and completely enclosesuccessive yam-receiving portions of said surface, means for moving saidportions stepwise into and out of said treatment vessel, and a yarntake-off apparatus operable to withdraw treated yarn from said portions.The endless flexible support member may be mounted for intermittentstepwise movement or for continuous movement around a closed path.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures YARN TREATMENT APPARATUS This inventionrelates to an apparatus for applying a relaxation treatment to a textileyarn.

Yarns which are wholly or partially of man-made fiber yarn are oftengiven a bulking treatment to impart to the yarn a soft, bulky handle,similar to that exhibited by woollen yarns. A typical bulking treatmentcomprises heating the yarn to the softening point of at least some ofits constituent fibers, deforming the heated yarn mechanically and thencooling to set the deformation in place. In order to achieve a maximumamount of bulking it may be necessary to give the yarn an aftertreatmentin which it is allowed to relax under low tension. For example, the yarnmay be treated with hot water or steam while in loose hank form, or acontinuous yarn may be passed through a hot water bath. in both cases,the object of the treatment is to allow the yarn to contractlongitudinally in a favorable environment so that the deformation,usually termed crimp, develops to its fullest extent.

However, certain yarns which consist wholly or partially of so-calledlatent crimp fibers do not respond satisfactorily to such simplerelaxation treatments. Latent crimp fibers have an inherent tendency tocrimp which may depend on either their chemical composition or on sometreatment applied during the fiber-forming process. For example,bi-component filaments may be formed by simultaneously extruding througha single spinneret two polymeric components having different physicalproperties, so that the resultant filaments comprise two components withdifferent capabilities of relaxation, and therefore have an inherenttendency to curl when allowed to relax under suitable conditions.

In order to realize the full crimping potential of latent crimp yarns itis generally necessary to apply a more drastic relaxation treatmentcycle, for example comprising a vacuum treatment followed by a treatmentwith low pressure saturated steam. Several such treatment cycles may beemployed if necessary.

In order to apply this kind of treatment it has hitherto been necessaryto wind the yarn into a suitable package, such as a loose hank, and tothen enclose it in a pressure vessel. Although many yarn packages can beso treated at once, it is necessarily a discontinuous, batch process andis not readily applicable to continuous lengths of yarn.

An alternative method of applying a relaxation treatment which has beenproposed comprises passing a latent crimp yarn strand continuously overan open steam bath, but this precludes the application of both pressureand near-vacuum conditions and so is not very satisfactory.

According to this invention an apparatus for treating a textile yarncomprises an endless flexible support member mounted for movement arounda closed path, means for laying a textile yarn onto a surface of saidsupport member, a treatment vessel to engage with and completely enclosesuccessive yarn-receiving portions of said surface, means for movingsaid portions stepwise into and out of said treatment vessel, and a yarntake-off apparatus operable to withdraw treated yarn from said portions.

The endless support member may be a belt or a flexible lattice conveyor;for example, it may be a woven wire belt or an open steel lattice. Inthe latter case the surface of the lattice may be covered with a fabriclayer of nylon netting or a similar openwork material.

The endless flexible support member may be mounted for intermittentstepwise movement around the whole of its closed path, or it may bearranged to be driven at a substantially constant speed while theapparatus is in use, means provided for converting the constant speedmotion to an intermittent stepwise motion only in the vicinity of thetreatment vessel.

Conveniently the means for laying yarn onto a surface of the endlessflexible support member is a coiling head of the type used to pile cardsliver into cylindrical cans, mounted on guide arms arranged to traversethe coiling head in a zig-zag path over the support member while layingthe yarn in regular coils.

Alternatively several such coiling heads may be located in side-by-siderelation transversely of the support member so as to produce parallelrows of coils extending lengthwise in the direction of movement of thesupport member.

If the support member is arranged to be driven at a constant speed, theyarn-laying means need not be traversed over the support member becausethe continuous movement of the latter can be arranged to provide therequired yarn-laying action. Moreover, the yarn-laying means in thiscase may operate continuously.

The coiling head may be arranged to draw yarns from a large number ofyarn packages and lay them together as a rope-like strand. Where severalheads are employed, each head may be supplied with only a relativelysmall number of yarns, in order to minimize the risk of tangling afterprocessing.

The treatment vessel preferably comprises two parts, one of which ismounted in running contact with the opposite side of the support memberto that on which yarn is laid. The other part is then arranged to bemovable towards the surface of the support member so that when it isurged against the latter its margins both surround the yarn-receivingportion and cooperate with the fixed part of the vessel so as to form asubstantially sealed chamber.

The apparatus may also include a yarn cooling device comprising forexample a suction head arranged to draw air through the yam-receivingportion of the support member as the latter is advanced from thetreatment vessel towards the point at which the treated yarn iswithdrawn by the yarn takeoff apparatus.

When a number of yarns are laid together as a single ropelike strand,the yarn take-off apparatus preferably comprises a set of individualwinding stations, one for each yam. These winding stations may be of anysuitable kind depending on the type of yarn package required for aparticular end-use.

Where the endless support member is driven at a-.constant speed, theyarn laying and take-off apparatus may operate continuously, yarn beingwithdrawn from the surface of the support member at substantially thesame linear speed as that at which it is laid by the yarn-laying means.

The apparatus may also include control means for operating the severalparts of the apparatus in timed relation to one another. A typicaloperating sequence when the support member is moved intermittently couldbe as follows: Firstly, a portion of the surface of the endless supportmember precisely equal to the length of, and immediately in advance ofthe treatment vessel is at least partly covered with a yarn or yarns bythe yarn-laying means which is then stopped. The support member is movedforwardly a distance precisely equal to the length of the treatmentvessel so that the laid yarn is advanced to the treatment vessel whichcloses around it and the treatment cycle commences. During the treatmentcycle the yarnlaying means covers a further portion of the surface ofthe endless support member of the same precise length, and when thetreatment cycle is completed and the treatment vessel disengaged fromthe support member, the support member is again moved forwardly the sameprecise distance so that the yarn on this further portion of the surfaceis advanced for treatment, while the now-treated yarn is forwarded overthe yarn cooling device (if fitted) to the yarn take-off apparatus whichwithdraws it from the surface of the support member.

A similar operating sequence would apply to an arrangement in which theendless support member moves continuously at a constant speed, with theexceptions that the yarnlaying and yarn take-ofi' operations would becarried out continuously, the speed of laying being such that the sameprecise length of the support member is covered during each completetreatment cycle.

Thus the apparatus can be arranged to apply a relaxation treatmentautomatically to a continuous yarn or yarns and although small lengthsof yarn connecting the yarn on successive yam-receiving portions of theendless support member do in fact escape treatment because they aretrapped by the margins of the treatment vessel, these latter can be maderelatively thin, so that this is of no practical significance.

This slight disadvantage may be overcome to some extent at least, byarranging that the length of the treatment vessel and the length of eachsuccessive yarn-covered portion of the support member are not exactlyequal, the former length being made slightly longer than the latterlength. In this way substantially all of the yarn is treated inside thevessel at least once.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a diagrammatic side elevation of an apparatus for 1 applying arelaxationtreatment to a yarn,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan illustrating the passage of yarn throughthe apparatus of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of part of another apparatus forapplying a relaxation treatment to a yarn.

In FIG. 1 a stainless steel lattice l is driven and supported by fourrollers 2, which in use guide it around a closed path with anintermittent stepwise motion in the direction of the arrow A. Forclarity, the mounting and driving arrangements, which are conventional,are not shown in detail.

A coiling head 3 is supported above the upper run 4 of the lattice 1 bya pair of guide arms 5, 6 connected by a pivot at their junction 7. Thearm is pivotally mounted at 8, on the machine framework (not shown) andthe drive for the coiling head is supplied by endless belts 9 andpulleys 10, through a shaft 11 which passes through the hollow pivot 8.The coiling head 3 can be traversed over the surface of the lattice by asystem of levers (not shown) acting on the guide arms 5, 6. The coilinghead 3 is supplied with a yarn 12 from a package 13 via yarn guides 14.

A treatment vessel comprising a lower part 16 mounted in running contactwith the underside of the upper run 4 of the lattice 1 and an upper part17 movable normal to the surface of the lattice as indicated by thearrows B, is connected by pipes 18 to a steam supply or to a vacuumreservoir, rieither of which is shown.

A suction head 19, also connected to a vacuum reservoir (not shown), ismounted in running contact with the underside of the lattice so that inuse air may be drawn through the lattice.

A yarn take-off apparatus is provided, comprising a spool 21, driven bysurface contact with a roller 22. The yarn takeoff apparatus isconventional and is not shown or described in any further detail.

In FIG. 2 only the upper run 4 of the lattice I is shown, divided bydashed lines into three regions F, G and H, of equal length, each ofwhich represents an area of the lattice surface which is enclosable bythe treatment vessel. The yarn laid in each region is joined to that inthe adjacent regions by short yarn lengths 23.

In operation, starting with the lattice empty and stationary the coilinghead 3 traverses the region F of FIG. 2 (from 24 to 25 in FIG. 2) layingthe yarn 12 in small coils in a zig-zag manner. When the region F hasreceived yarn the lattice is advanced a distance exactly equal to thelength of the regions to move that portion of the lattice under thetreatment vessel (which corresponds to the region G in FIG. 2). At thesame time the coiling head is advanced to its original starting point(24 in FIG. 2). The upper part 17 of the treatment vessel is urgedagainst the lattice surface enclosing the yarn of region G. Whiletreatment proceeds, the coiling head traverses the next part of thelattice,.laying yarn onto it exactly as before. When the treatment cycleis completed, the treatment vessel is disengaged from the lattice whichis then advanced a further distance exactly equal to the length of theregions to bring the next yarn-receiving portion under the treatmentvessel, thereby moving the now-treated yarn to region l-I. Again thecoiling head advances and commences laying further yarn and the upperpart of the treatment vessel is urged against the lattice surface totreat the already-laid yarn at region G. The relaxed yarn in region H iscooled by drawing air through it by means of the suction head 19 (FIG.'1). Starting at the point where the coiling head originally commencedlaying the yarn (now at 26 in FIG. 2), the yarn take-off apparatus 21,22 of FIG. 1, withdraws the cooled yam from the lattice winding it ontothe spool 21. This step-wise operation is repeated so that the coilinghead can deliver an unbroken length of yarn onto the lattice and theyarn take-off apparatus can receive the treated yarn as an unbrokenlength.

In FIG. 3 an arrangement is shown in which the endless support membermoves at a constant speed while the apparatus is in use. For simplicitythe output end of the apparatus, which corresponds to that of FIG. 1, isnot shown in FIG. 3. The same reference numerals are for convenienceapplied to like parts in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Thus in FIG. 3, a stainless steel lattice l is supported for movementaround a closed path by rollers 2. A stationary coiling head 3 deliversa yarn 12 from a package 13 via yarn guides 14 onto the upper run 4 ofthe lattice which is driven at a constant speed in the directionindicated by the arrows A.

Fron the coiling head 3 the lattice l advances towards a treatmentvessel 16, 17, which corresponds to that already described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Intermediate the coiling head 3 and the treatment vessel 16, 17 is afirst storage device comprising a pair of freely rotatable rollers 30,mounted with their axes parallel, and an endless belt loop 31. The loop31 is supported by a pair of freely rotatable rollers 32 which areparallel and mounted in spacedapart relation by two frame members 33,only one of which can be seen in FIG. 3. The frame members are slidablymounted so that the belt loop 31 can move in a direction normal to theplane of the lattice between the rollers 30, deflecting the lattice intoa U-shaped loop.

A second storage device generally similar to that just described isprovided intermediate the treatment vessel 16, 17 and the remainder ofthe apparatus (shown only in FIG. l)v This second storage devicecomprises a pair of parallel rollers 40, 41 and an endless belt loop 42supported by rollers 43 and two frame members 44, the latter beingslidably mounted to allow the belt loop 42 to deflect the lattice into asecond U- shaped loop, between the rollers 40, 41. The roller 41 isfreely rotatably mounted, but the roller 40 is drivable by a motor Mthrough a chain 45 and sprockets 46, 47. The drive from the motor M tothe sprocket 46 is taken through an electricallyoperated combinedclutch/brake unit, (not shown) whereby the roller 40 may be driven, orbraked, or may simply be allowed to rotate freely.

Proximity switches 5,, S detect the position of the endless belt loop 31at the upper and lower limits of its movement respectively.

The operation of the apparatus of FIG. 3 is briefly as follows:

With the treatment vessel disengaged from the lattice, the latter isfree to move in the direction of the arrows A provided that the roller40 is either driven or is allowed to rotate freely. Under theseconditions the endless belt loops 31 and 42 would adopt a position ofequilibrium with the sizes of the U-shaped loops into which the latticeis deformed being approximately equal. However, by using the motor M todrive the lattice forward from the vicinity of the treatment vessel at agreater speed than that of the overall speed of advance of the lattice,the endless belt loop 42 can be made to descend relative to the rollers40, 41 while the belt loop 31 rises relative to its associated rollers32, with a corresponding increase and decrease respectively, in thesizes of the two U-shaped loops.

While the lattice is advancing, the coiling head 3 is depositing yarnonto the lattice surface 4. When the yarn-covered portion of the latticereaches the first storage device where it is deflected by the endlessbelt loop 31 into the first U-shaped loop, the coils of yarn are trappedbetween the lattice surface 4 and the belt loop 31, so that thedisposition of the coils is substantially unafiected.

By controlling the speed of the motor M in relation to the overall speedof the lattice around its closed path, the arrival of the yam-coveredportion at the treatment vessel can be arranged to coincide with thedescent of the belt loop 42 to its maximum possible extent, and with theascent of the belt loop 31 to its highest position. In other words, thelattice is deflected into a relatively large U-shaped loop after thetreatment vessel and into a relatively small U-shaped loop before it.Conveniently, this condition is signalled by the proximity switch 8which causes the motor M to stop and the brake to be applied to theroller 40. That portion of the lattice between the roller 40 and theroller 32 is therefore now stationary, the treatment vessel can beengaged with it and the yarn portion within the vessel treated, asdescribed earlier.

During the treatment step, the lattice is still moving in the directionof the arrows A, both towards the first storage device, and away fromthe second storage device. The belt loop 3! therefore descends, storingthe still-advancing yamcovered lattice as a loop of steadily increasingsize, while the belt loop 42 ascends, paying out the lattice from itspreviously stored loop which therefore steadily decreases in size.

The size of the U-shaped loops and the length of the treatment vesselare so chosen in relation to the duration of the treatment to be appliedto each successive yarn-covered portion, and in relation to the overallspeed of advance of the lattice that at the end of a treatment step thebelt loop 31 has just descended to its lowermost extent and actuates theproximity switch 5,, causing the treatment vessel to be disengaged fromthe lattice and the roller 40 to be driven by the motor M, the belt loop42 having now risen to its maximum extent.

At this point, the first storage device is full and the second storagedevice is empty.

The motor M is now operated to restore the two U-shaped loops to therelative sizes which they originally had immediately prior to thetreatment step. This is accomplished by advancing the treatedyarn-covered portion away from the treatment vessel at a speedconsiderably greater than the overall speed of advance of the lattice.When the loops are restored to their original sizes, a new yarn-coveredportion of the lattice is under the treatment vessel and the proximityswitch S, can initiate a further treatment step, as just described.

As in the case of the first storage device the coils of treated yarn aretrapped between the lattice and the belt loop 42 and are thereforeretained in their original disposition despite the deflection of thelattice at the second storage device.

The remainder of the apparatus functions as previously described withreference to F 168. l and 2, with the exception that the latticeadvances continuously and that therefore the yarn take-off apparatusalso operates continuously.

Thus the apparatus just described operates in exactly the same way asthe apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2, in so far as a continuous length of yarnis treated as a succession of connected portions.

If the spacing between the treatment vessel and the second storgaedevice is sufficient the yarn cooling apparatus of H0. 1 may be omitted,provided that treated yarn is not still hot and plastic when it istrapped between the lattice surface 4 and the belt loop 42.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for treating a textile yarn, comprising an endlessflexible support member mounted for movement around a closed path, meansfor laying a textile yarn onto a surface of said support member, atreatment vessel to engage with and completely enclose successiveyam-receiving portions of said surface, means for moving said portionsstepwise into and out of said treatment vessel, and a yarn take-offapparatus operable to withdraw treated yarn from said portions.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, including means operable to cool saidtreated yarn prior to withdrawal by the yarn take-off apparatus.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said means comprises asuction device arranged to draw air through the treated yarn.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible supportmember is mounted for intermittent stepwise movement around a closedpath.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible supportmember is mounted for continuous movement around a closed path, theapparatus including a first storage means operable to store a portion ofthe support member advancing towards the treatment vessel duringengagement by the treatment vessel with another portion of the supportmember, and a second storage means operable to pay-out apreviously-stored portion of the support member during said treatment.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each storage means comprisesa first pair of rollers, rotatably mounted in parallel, spaced-apartrelation and in running contact with one surface of the support member,and an endless belt loop supported by a second pair of rollers, freelyrotatably mounted in parallel, spaced-apart relation on a frame memberwith the plane of the endless belt loop being substantially normal tothe plane of the support member, and the frame member being freelyslidably mounted so that the endless belt loop engages the yam-receivingother surface of the support member between the first pair of rollers,whereby the support member is deflected into a U-shaped loop.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5, including drive means operable toempty said first storage means and to flll said second storage meanswhile the treatment vessel is disengaged from the support member.

8. Apparatus according to claim 4, including means operable to traversethe yam-laying means over a portion of the surface of the endlessflexible support member, while said support member is stationary betweenstepwise movements thereof.

1. An apparatus for treating a textile yarn, comprising an endlessflexible support member mounted for movement around a closed path, meansfor laying a textile yarn onto a surface of said support member, atreatment vessel to engage with and completely enclose successiveyarn-receiving portions of said surface, means for moving said portionsstepwise into and out of said treatment vessel, and a yarn take-offapparatus operable to withdraw treated yarn from said portions. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1, including means operable to cool saidtreated yarn prior to withdrawal by the yarn take-off apparatus. 3.Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said means comprises a suctiondevice arranged to draw air through the treated yarn.
 4. Apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible support member ismounted for intermittent stepwise movement around a closed path. 5.Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless flexible supportmember is mounted for continuous movement around a closed path, theapparatus including a first storage means operable to store a portion ofthe support member advancing towards the treatment vessel duringengagement by the treatment vessel with another portion of the supportmember, and a second storage means operable to pay-out apreviously-stored portion of the support member during said treatment.6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each storage means comprisesa first pair of rollers, rotatably mounted in parallel, spaced-apartrelation and in running contact with one surface of the support member,and an endless belt loop supported by a second pair of rollers, freelyrotatably mounted in parallel, spaced-apart relation on a frame memberwith the plane of the endless belt loop being substantially normal tothe plane of the support member, and the frame member being freelyslidably mounted so that the endless belt loop engages theyarn-receiving other surface of the support member between the firstpair of rollers, whereby the support member is deflected into a U-shapedloop.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 5, including drive means operableto empty said first storage means and to fill said second storage meanswhile the treatment vessel is disengaged from the support member. 8.Apparatus according to claim 4, including means operable to traverse theyarn-laying means over a portion of the surface of the endless flexiblesupport member, while said support member is stationary between stepwisemovements thereof.